


This is an origin story

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: #birthdayfordaisy, Daisy on the Run, Eating, Gen, Inhumans (Marvel), Milkshakes, Skye | Daisy Johnson's Superpowers, Sokovia Accords, standwithquake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 05:13:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7300885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Birthday for Daisy Johnson - DAY 1 · 27 June<br/>Daisy + origin story</p><p>Daisy Johnson meets up with Mike and Ace when she runs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This is an origin story

_But now we know they're among us._

_Heroes And monsters._

_The world is full of wonders._

 

She used to see things that way.

Before she found out _she_ was the monster in the story.

At least, that’s what it feels like, after the Sokovia Accords turned into Sokovia Protocols.

She used to want to help people on The Index.  To make sure they got a second chance.

Now, she’s just working to keep people off of it.

 

#

Sitting alone in the diner, she pushes the stray strand of hair that’s fallen into her face back behind her ear, and then stops herself, looks carefully around the restaurant.

She knows coming here is taking a big risk, but she needs allies, people who are hiding out on the fringe, like her.

Every familiar behavior or movement could be a “tell” if someone’s watching.

The headline on the paper in front of her is asking: “Who is Quake?”

When they find out, maybe they can let her know.

It’s not the kind of name she would’ve chosen for herself, but there’s power in it.

She’s always shaken things. 

In the orphanage, in and out of foster homes; she was always ready to believe that something inside her made things fall apart.

Like it was destiny.

The cup of coffee in front of her is getting cold, and she sets it down and waits for the waitress to come back for a refill.  Her eyes check the time again on the burn phone.

“Hulk is still my favorite.”

She peers over the top of the paper and sees the young man staring at her with his hands in his pockets.  The sight of him can’t help but bring a smile to her face.

“Ace.”

“What do I call _you_?” he asks, as she motions to the empty spot across from her in the booth.

“Daisy,” she replies, with a shrug, and folds up the paper.  It’s been so long since she’s seen him.

“You look…different.”

She was just thinking the same thing.  He’s taller, and all that hair, she remembers, done in braids now. Still wearing his school uniform, but the shirt is half undone and she can see the Avengers t-shirt peeking out underneath it.

“I _am_ different.”  She answers, a moment later, realizing that her disguise must seem more like a costume to him, rather than the way he remembers her. 

He settles in, starts to relax, then pulls a piece of paper out of his backpack.

“This is for you.”

He slides it across the table between them, and she picks it up slowly, opening it.

She blinks a few times at the wording, then folds it back up, chewing on her bottom lip.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, looking a bit worried.

“Nothing,” she smiles, letting it pass over her, leaning in closer to him. “Have you had lunch yet?”

The corner of his mouth turns up and he takes one of the menus tucked in along the wall.

“This place has _really_ good milkshakes,” he tells her, eyeing her cup of coffee.

“Sounds like a plan. My treat,” she smiles, as the waitress returns to fill up her coffee.

 

#

She feels her way into the dark warehouse, checking for vibrations.

Knowing that this could be a trap, but hoping it’s not.

There’s movement and it’s like feeling a string plucked as it registers inside her and she turns, her senses all heightened.

The glowing red dot penetrating the darkness moves closer to her.

“Mike?”

He comes out of the shadows, to the spot beneath the overhead window, and then he’s standing in front of her, almost towering over her, if she’s honest.

“Agent Johnson.”

There’s a warmth in it, like he’s trying it out for the first time.

“Why did you put that in your message?” she grouses, relaxing a little.

“The coordinates?” he shrugs. “How else would you find me?”

“No,” she shakes her head. “The part about how ‘Coulson said you’d reach out’.”

“Because..that’s what he said?” Mike offers, a little bemused.  “Sorry it’s so dark, I’ve got night vision.  I figured with your powers, though-“

“You know they’re hunting me, right?” she interrupts.

“Yeah.  They hunted me, too,” he says sarcastically. “You helped them, remember?”

“This is different,” she reminds him. “We’re on a list.  To be stored in boxes, or worse.”

“True.  Which is why he told me to go dark.  Said you might come looking.”

She thinks about that for a moment.  He’s right, of course.  It’s so unsettling for her and Coulson to be on opposite sides right now.

“I’m sorry to involve Ace,” she offers. “I just didn’t know how else to reach you.”

“Ace is more than fine. He said you let him have a milkshake _and_ fries.”

“Guilty as charged.”

“Anyway, we have a whole system set up, he and I.  Coulson made sure of that.”

“Good.”  She thinks about that, too.  How there are plans that he’s had all along she didn’t know the details of, until she started digging weeks ago.

“So what’s this all about?” he asks, interrupting her thought train. “Is there some kind of strategy here, or-“

“You’ve been able to navigate all of this, and stay hidden,” she explains. “I need you to show me how.”

“You’re really going to hide it out?  Because, according to the papers, you’re doing a _really_ terrible job of it.”

“Not for me,” she sighs. “For people _like_ me.”

He thinks it over for a moment, then smiles at her.  “Okay.  I can do that.”

 

#

She knew how to erase herself, but going dark is something she learned in SHIELD.

Money does make things easier, and she has plenty of it at the moment.

HYDRA's money. Hive's HYDRA money, but she's putting it to good use.

Setting up safehouses, new identities and untraceable accounts. Getting ready.

Out here, though, in the middle of nowhere, she can clear her head and focus.

She wishes she still had the van, but the bike will have to do.  Hey, at least she paid cash for it.

This is a remote area, and she's done her homework. There aren't any sensors she can't work around.

She hacked into the GSA satellites and will mask what she's doing.

Just like she hacked the military files about Banner, and figured out his pattern. How he was able to evade the Army, and Ross for so long.

It goes from blazing heat to cold out here pretty fast.  The temperature is already dropping.

She came prepared, and she's never stayed in one place for too long, anyway.

It's a survival instinct.

And now, as she bends down to touch the desert floor, she wants to see what this gift inside of her can really do.


End file.
